There’s that moment in every summer where the tomatoes, beets and peaches lay side-by-side on a farmers market table—all three at their peak—just crying out to play together in a ménage à trois. The beets are sweet-earthy, the tomatoes sweet-tangy and the peaches just, well…sweet-sweet. Together on a platter, their juices mingle, pink-red-orange colors pool into a watercolor’s dream. All that’s needed to finish is some salt to pull out the juices and counterpunch the taste, a little oil of choice to souse with, and any green herbs you have on hand for a contrasty visual vibration. Nature does most of the work for you. Choose the right size platter for the amount you are making, one with a lip round the edge and a bit of a trough at the base to catch all the liquid.
If nothing else, serve alone with a chunk of crusty bread to sop everything up. Add a big wedge of cheese on a board or assign it the main side dish duty in a barbecue feast. This is a seasonal treat not to be attempted with out-of-season flown-in tomatoes, cold storage beets or rock-hard peaches. But you can swap nectarines for peaches, cherry tomatoes for big ones (or mix and match), and experiment with different tones of beets. Chioggia beets are positively psychedelic.
- Wash, core and slice tomatoes. Lay them down on the platter. Salt.
- Steam, boil or roast cleaned beets until fork tender. Cool, peel and slice. Lay over the tomatoes.
- Wash and slice peaches. Tuck pieces amongst the beets and tomatoes. Salt again.
- Drizzle with olive oil. Scatter fresh herbs over top.
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